Many food products such as toppings and other ingredients used in preparing foods commercially are prepackaged in flexible containers or pouches to reduce packaging costs as well as shipment and storage costs and for ease of handling and use of the food products. These flexible containers or pouches are usually designed so that one corner or end of the containers can be cut off and the contents squeezed out. Normally the flexible containers are hand squeezed, making it virtually impossible to remove the entire contents, resulting in some waste of the food product.
Squeeze roller dispensers of various types have been utilized in the past. One type of dispenser that has been used effectively for dispensing putty-like material from a flexible bag-like container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,551, which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application. An objection to using this type of dispenser for dispensing food products is that the rollers are provided with rubber-like covers which are not acceptable for use in the food industry for sanitation reasons. Some materials that are suitable for use in industries in which sanitation is not a major concern may be sanitarily unsuitable for use in the food industry.
If the rollers are made of harder, less porous materials which are sanitarily acceptable in the food industry, a problem is then encountered with being able to effectively grip and drive the flexible food containers between the rollers without slippage. In the past, squeeze rollers have been provided with knurled surfaces for increased friction. However, it has been found that if this type of roller is used to dispense food from flexible containers, slippage results. Additionally, knurled surfaces are much harder to keep clean.